Nicolas Ghesquiere’s new Louis Vuitton ready-to-wear collection is “luxurious and sharp with more fluidity and femininity”.

The French designer has been working as creative director for the label since 2013 when he replaced Marc Jacobs in the role. Since then, Ghesquiere has enjoyed enormous success with Vuitton and is hoping to continue his winning streak when the label shows their spring ready to wear collection at Paris Fashion Week in France next month (Oct16).

Lending his creative skills to Vuitton has been an enjoyable and educational experience for Ghesquiere, who told WWD he has attempted to inject some of his own personal style into the label’s image.
“(I’m proposing) a style that is coherent with the brand Vuitton and at the same, one that has a lot of integrity with my fashion proposition,” he explained the publication.

“It’s hard to describe (my defining silhouette), but for sure it’s about this mix and contrast between sporty clothes and very high luxury – embroidered pieces, exquisite leather. It’s two sides of the same brand. My role was to bring that together, make it a silhouette and I think that is what I’m doing. It’s still luxurious, very sharp, but there is more freedom and movement, more fluidity, more femininity.”

Following in Jacobs’ footsteps would be a daunting prospect for any designer, but Ghesquiere insists he took on the challenge with aplomb after moving over from Balenciaga. He knew that he had been hired by the label for specific reasons, and has done his best to live up to expectations since then.

“This house is so much about history, craftsmanship, the famous savoir-faire, the French way of doing things and how important it was to preserve that,” he said of Vuitton. “At the same time, I think they were looking for someone who could embrace this tradition and move it forward without compromising – using this craft, this incredible legacy to do modern things.”

As well as delighting fashionistas with the season’s new offerings, the upcoming PFW show will take place in a new venue, after showing at the Louis Vuitton Foundation for Ghesquiere’s last three ready to wear displays.
Now they will be constructing a “future flagship” in a corner building at the Place Vendome, and it’s the history contrasted with the image Vuitton will be portraying with the new collection that Ghesquiere found so appealing.
“It’s a great message about Vuitton, about the history and patrimony represented by that place and also the modernity and innovation we are bringing,” he added. “So it’s a great symbol.”